Into the Fire

The Nature Of Change

Second Story in the Times and Tales series

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The smell of sweet decay was in the air, their elven realm of eternal life could not hold sway over nature. The leaves were turning, the essence of spring, summer, life seeping out of the trees, preparing them for the cold of winter. Elves felt no cold, survived for millennia, rarely noted the minutiae of the passing seasons, though they observed the change in their rituals, but occasionally one was stopped by the sweet scent of decay as the red and orange leaves fell to the ground, nourishing that which would soon be covered in frost. A blond head, a young male of the realm, turned and looked towards the East wondering how life fared beyond the seas and the lands, where his other parent supposedly passed her time, waiting for what, he wished he knew. His father never spoke of her, she was as dead to him as the leaves on the ground were. The blond half elf took in a deep breath, letting the scent fill his lungs.

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The smell of sweet decay was in the air, the trees lining the green fields giving the suggestion of many small bonfires, embers drifting through the air and falling on the grass. The leaves had turned from lively green to burnt umber and were now completing their lives by nourishing the soil once again. A brunette woman, the proof of millennia in her eyes, turned her head towards the old wooden house with its wide porch. Pumpkins and gourds, early season Jack-o-lanterns decorated the steps, fake cobwebs mixed in with real to give the suggestion of a haunted house. Once this time of year was worshipped with solemn prayers for the harvest, once it was considered ill luck to speak of ghosts and goblins on a day when the barratries between the realms fell. This time of year was now celebrated with costumes and candy, funny cards with laughing white specters and young boys clinging to blue blankets as they stood in a pumpkin patch.* The woman bowed her head in a moment of prayer, her neck bent in a sort of supplication, wishing good harvest to her child across the seas, the lands, the realms. And to the other half she had left behind, the one she knew viewed her choice as a betrayal. Shedding a tear and saving another prayer, she took in a deep breath, letting the Autumn scent fill her wearied lungs.

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The days were becoming shorter, the natural progression of the year. His name meant “green leaf” and yet so much of his existence had not been spent in such a connotation of life and freshness. His home realm had gone from great and green to dark and murky, laughing tree spirits and sprites suffocated and sacrificed to ghoulish orcs and spiders. The greatest adventure of his life, the true glory to his name, was tainted by the loss of such great friends, long lost hobbits, and a man, a True King, and the many personas of a wizarding spirit. The dwarf, the dwarf he had for a longer time, but even he was now gone. His son, his son he also had, but in manners and temper, his son represented another being he rarely let him self dwell on. His long lost brother in arms, he had been restored to life, but his beloved father still lived among the ever-fading trees of the once again green wood. The days, the days were becoming shorter, but the nights were becoming longer. He cherished the nights, the stars, the magical mysticism and simplistic beauty of a bright moon in a dark sky. The nights gave him hope that beauty and joy could still be found in his seemingly stagnant world. Nature was never stagnant, forever changing, even if the change was constant and almost predictable, the simple routine brought him comfort. The nights made him feel alive.

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The days were becoming shorter, the natural progression of the year. He was named after a famous Celtic seer, Taliesin. His mother, who was named after a great queen** informed him long ago his father would have approved of the name. He had never met his father, the one who had given him the midnight blue eyes he was so renown for. He was a good soul, he had been told. Taliesin prayed he was as open and as caring as his mother claimed. For with the equinox came the change in Taliesin’s life, he would follow the Watchman Haldir through the barrier, on a journey to find his past. He would leave behind his mother, his twin sister, Aine, everything he knew for a simple hint of his familial past. Life, like nature, was ever-changing. Taliesin took in a deep breath of the evening air and smiled, the nights made him feel so alive.

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*Linus from “The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”

** The name “Rhiannon” means great queen, the name is from the Great Queen of Welsh Mythology.